Sunday, April 9, 2017

Here's HOPE: COMBATANTS FOR PEACE in Palestine-Israel

Here's hope for now and in the future in Palestine-Israel!

Former violent foes are reconciling, forgiving, sharing, communing, demonstrating that enemies can change,
can leave behind revenge, nationalism, hatred, self-centered ideologies and religions, and so many other factors creating death and destruction in the Middle East.

Check out Combatants for Peace:

"The Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony comes to remind us that war is not an act of fate but one of human choice.

On this particularly difficult day, Israelis and Palestinians acknowledge the pain and the aspirations of those living on the “other side” and strive to prevent the next wave of violence."

"Nonviolence is the greatest force
at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier
than the mightiest weapon of destruction
devised by the ingenuity of man.
Destruction is not the law of the humans."
-M.K.Gandhi

“Peace does not happen by itself; It requires commitment, perseverance and continuing efforts. The more we increase the circle of people involved in activities, the more we will increase our ability to influence the reality in which we live.”

“CFP is a volunteer based movement.
Supporting CFP helps us continue all these activities:

"In-house events – group meetings with a Palestinian and an Israeli member of the Movement who present the personal stories and hold open discussions with the participants."

"Learning Peace" – a series of lectures open to the public."

"Field trips – Tours of the Bethlehem and Nablus areas, where participants get a first-hand look at the actual situation in the occupied territories and meet with Palestinian members of the Movement."

"Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony – in memory of victims of the conflict.
Theatre on the Ground – political theater performances promoting non-violent resistance."

"Combatants for peace" (CFP) is a bi-national movement working throughout Palestine and Israel.

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Words of Truth

TO BE HOPEFUL in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.

What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives…If we remember those times and places…where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory. --Howard Zinn

I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the "isness" of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal "oughtness" that forever confronts him.--Martin Luther King Jr.

True religion consisted in an inward life, wherein the heart does love and reverence God the Creator, and learns to exercise true justice and goodness...I found no narrowness respecting sects and opinions, but believed that sincere, upright-hearted people, in every society, who truly love God, were accepted of him.--John Woolman

Love each other as I have loved you.. I call you friends because I have made known to you everything I heard from my Father.--Jesus in John 15: 12-15

...Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.

You have answered right, said Jesus, do this and life is yours...

Who is my neighbor?

Jesus replied with the Parable of the Good Samaritan [heretic, outsider, enemy].--from Luke 10:27-37

Religion has been emphatically embodied, not in speculative theories, but in practical righteousness, in active virtues, in reverence to God, in benevolence to man- the latter being the only sure test of the former. --Thomas M'Clintock

...It is safer to approach God through the Holy Spirit than through the door of theology. We can identify the Holy Spirit whenever it makes its presence felt. Whenever we see someone who is loving, compassionate, mindful, caring, and understanding, we know that the Holy Spirit is there. --Thich Nhat Hanh

Faith...manifests itself in all righteousness and works of love; it clothes the naked; feeds the hungry; consoles the afflicted; shelters the miserable; aids and consoles all the oppressed; returns good for evil; serves those that injure it; prays for those that persecute it.--Menno Simons

About Me

A committed Process-theist, Enlightenment ethicist and humanist, moral realist, human rights activist, and moderate skeptic (like Martin Gardner co-founder of the modern skeptic movement). I am a free-seeker--an avid seeker of the Good, the True, the Beautiful, and of equality, peace, justice, mercy, compassion, fidelity, generosity, and so forth. I try and model my life on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and his parables such as the Good Samaritan. I've a deep passion for worldwide outreach to those in need. Loving and living for the Divine--Ultimate Reality in whom we love, move, and have our being.
A poet and novelist; Married with three grown kids; Degree in Creative Writing from Cal State University Long Beach; Lived in the Middle East, Montana, etc; Former literature and writing teacher.